"LONDON — Over 1,700 scientists in Britain have signed a statement defending the evidence for human-made climate change in the wake of hacked e-mails that emboldened climate skeptics.

E-mails stolen from an English university appeared to show scientists discussing ways to shield data from public scrutiny and suppress others' work. Climate skeptics — those who deny that human activity is responsible for global warming — have seized on the correspondence as evidence that scientists have conspired to hide the facts.

Most scientists say the e-mails do nothing to undermine the evidence for climate change."